GoBigRed

Because he missed a couple close shots at the rim, which obviously nobody else on the team does.

Let's hope this kid exceeds expectations like Petteway has. Oklahoma cracked the top 25 this week, wasn't he committed there? At least he was on the radar of some schools that are having success.

I've been told Thurman has no chance, but that Thomas is in ok shape. That was a while ago though.

That's ok though. We should know what he can do by now. If we still need to evaluate him against Class A kids from Nebraska, then we haven't been doing a good job.

Just a couple things out of here. First on Pinder, theres many highly talented players at prep schools that do not start and go on to be great college players it just so happens a better player is in front of them and thats the case for Pinder. As to winning it helps but location is huge too. Look at the Rivals 150 and see plenty of guys going to schools that are at the same level or lower currently than NU hoops but its a lot closer to home. There are quite a bit of obstacles to overcome but this one is always tough. True on both points. I understand Pinder's case, but after watching that 3 minute highlight video and seeing him in I think 1 highlight (don't think he even touched the ball), I was a little disappointed. If he's not getting any playing time, how much is he really developing...a guy we really need to learn American basketball...

I want Khyri Thomas from Benson. I don't care if he's from Nebraska. I don't care if the competition isn't good. I don't care that he isn't highly rated and his best offers are UNO, UMKC and Portland State. He's 6'3", he can shoot. He can finish with his off hand in traffic better than our current players finish with their strong hand. He has potential, and most importantly, we have an open scholarship, a lot of dead weight on our roster, and can't seem to get anybody else to commit.

Worried? Not really. Sounds like he has no interest in us anymore. Used to that by now.

If you pay attention and use common sense, there are obviously some red flags, but that doesn't mean we can't get it done here with Miles. Just that it is going to be a little more difficult than Miles may have thought and that fans may have hoped for, even with the arena and practice facility. Miles was quoted a month ago saying something like "Facilities are nice because they get kids to visit, but wins are what is going to get kids to commit." He basically said until we start winning, we aren't going to be landing the players we are going after. It's really disappointing to hear, but look at the results on paper, he's pretty much right. We've got an OK big man lined up for next season, and a very raw project player for 2015 who isn't even starting on his high school team. That's it so far. And we have at least 1 more open scholarship to give for next year, and in reality should be giving out 4 more to replace the players who can't get into a game or play sparingly after multiple years in the program. But we don't have better players interested in us apparently, so that's where the disappointment comes in. Question is, when are these guys going to start WINNING so we can start recruiting better? I think this is why some of us around here have been on edge lately and have "rushed" Miles' process a little bit. It's not that we expect the NCAA Tournament or even NIT this year. But if it's going to take winning to start getting good commits, then we need to start winning sooner than later. Not talking about NCAA Tournament - just exceed expectations. Don't finish last in the Big Ten. Don't go 3-15. Finish games out. Maybe sniff .500.

Most improved player: Petteway (From what he put up as a freshman at Texas Tech, to now, unbelievable change in production). Biggest Surprise: Petteway (I thought he was going to be more a David Rivers type. Way off. I also had a DI coach tell me in the summer that Leslee Smith was definitely a Big Ten big man, so I have not been surprised by him, although I've been very pleased the assessment was right. Biggest Disappointment: Shields. Was expecting him to be a mini star. My biggest concern is, was last year a fluke? Is he really a mid-major talent (athletically he is) that had some great games last season when people were trying to shut down Talley and Ubel? He went off for 29 against a horrible Penn State team, then had a strong Big Ten tournament against Purdue (19 pts, 6 rebs) and Ohio State (14 pts, 5 rebs). In his other 25 games last season he averaged 7.1 ppg and 5.1 rpg. If you take out his 2 best games this year (Florida Gulf Coast and Creighton), he's averaging 8.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Now, he has played a lot more minutes and his shooting percentages are down, but maybe he is really just an average player capable of blowing up for 25+ a couple times a season. Maybe his game isn't versatile enough to get 16 every game like Petteway can do. Florida Gulf Coast was overmatched, he had 28. Creighton is not very athletic, he had 22. His other best games this year are Arkansas State and The Citadel. I would really, really like to see him stop trying to be Petteway and get to the rim every time he has the ball. Shields' worst games this year are not coincidentally against the ones with the best major conference-caliber athletes. Dude, take the open 10 footer. We have faith in you to shoot it! You've hit 6-14 (43%) from 3 since December 8, that is a fine percentage! Petteway is 14-37 (38%), Pitchford is 7-26 (27%), Gallegos is 17-45 (38%) in that same time frame. Pitch has taken 12 more 3s and hit 1 more! We need you to trust your jump shot!

This is what I'm worried about too. I'm sure Hammond will help with depth but he's likely not going to be the guy who pushes this program over the edge. We aren't even on the radar with any 2014 kids who have any hype around them. Sounds like next year is just going to be another rebuilding year, I'm afraid. I would give my left nut to be wrong, though Then when will we not be rebuilding? Biggs and Smith will both be seniors next year and probably starters. When they are gone, we will have big shoes to fill, especially for Smith. So in 2015-16, we'll be replacing 2 starters (and 2 of our better players at that). Hammond will be a sophomore with limited PT experience and Pinder will be a raw project freshman in 2015-16, and will probably redshirt to put on weight. Petteway, Pitchford and Shields will be seniors, Webster a junior, Hawkins a junior (if he's here) and Fuller a RS So. That's 8 players right there with no stronger post presence than we have this season. 15-16 is the year we absolutely need to get it done, because we will graduate a lot of experience and will then be calling 16-17 a rebuilding year too. All of this can be solved by landing some players and the sooner they can get in the program the better. I really hope we aren't waiting on a certain 2-3 scholarships to time out after 4 years for guys who don't play or aren't real contributors.

Partly due to a lot of individuals, mostly due to terrible shooting. Our shooting percentages this year are not good, to no one's surprise.

According to Statsheet.com, we are only the 5th least experienced team in the league. Michigan and Purdue are both younger than we are, and we lost to both. I'm getting close to being done with the "inexperienced" card. Gallegos is nearly done, Biggs and Smith have 1.5 seasons left, Petteway has played an entire season and now a half. It's college basketball, young teams can win (Xavier is younger than us and doing WAY better than last year). It's not like we have 6 freshmen playing that we can look ahead and say we're going to be awesome in 3 years when they are seniors. We need to ramp up our recruiting before I will actually start to get excited. No offense to Hammonds, but so far I'm not too thrilled about our recruiting. Webster is a nice player and Smith was a good pickup, but every Big Ten team has good freshmen who play.

I am really hoping that Fuller can be deadly from 3. We really need it, among other things.

Coach's job is to teach his players how to handle these situations. Gallegos doesn't take that shot any other time in the game, down 5 with 1:30 left you still run your offense to get a good shot.Are you watching games? Most of his shots are like that. Petteway is by far the worst offender of bad shots. Just because a few go in, doesn't mean it was a smart shot. I see his selfish tendacy hasn't left. I hate to say that because without him, we have a few more losses. Every game. He takes shots off screens but mostly in the flow of the offense and with his feet set. That was early in the shot clock with two Purdue defenders right up on him at a time when we especially needed a good shot. I realize Petteway does the same crap but he's bad about it all game long, I generally don't have a problem with Rey's shots.

Maybe so, but they have clearly not gotten through to the players how critical every possession is in the Big Ten. You can't just go 4 minutes jacking up shots and throwing the ball to the other team or out of bounds and ever win a game. Don't me get started on defensive lapses. Miles is a very patient coach, and sometimes I think to a fault.

. Are you so sure that's coaching? I thought the announcers said Miles was calling for a foul, but maybe I heard wrong. He was either calling for a foul or no foul. And that offense possession, yes. We've seen pathetic shot selection all year and it reared it's ugly head at a terrible time.

Coach's job is to teach his players how to handle these situations. Gallegos doesn't take that shot any other time in the game, down 5 with 1:30 left you still run your offense to get a good shot.

They're also a stupid team, so breaks are harder to come by.

Pathetic coaching. We jack up an off balance three with 1:30 left down five, then foul with 11 seconds on the shot clock.

Down 3, miss two free throws, sloppy turnover. This is Nebrasketball.

These rims at Purdue sound as tight as the ones at Madison Square Garden. Maybe why Purdue is last in the conference in free throw percentage.

You're overreacting because Webster isn't the Top 50 player some called him and you expected him to be. He is still an upgrade over Benny Parker. Benny is basically worthless in the half court. Tai got into the lane numerous times last night.

Not Tai, he didn't have a turnover. Petteway missed Shields on an alley oop by about 10 feet. Webster did do that at Cincinnati I believe, but not last night.

Benny > Tai at this point. They both can't play offense and Benny is better at defense Are you kidding? Tai actually was good last night. He made his only bucket, did not have a single turnover in 28 minutes, had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. He drove the lane and kicked out to wide open three-point shooters at least 3 or 4 times, and we missed a few of them. Benny saw 10 minutes of playing time and in those 10 minutes, according to Statsheet.com, we got outscored by 6 points. He makes it 4-on-5 on offense and is a 5-9 dude guarding Big Ten guards at the other end.

Oh well, at least we're not Creighton: Doug Gottlieb ‏@GottliebShow 5 Jan Creighton quietest 18k ever RT @Jgroth980: @GottliebShow what would you say is the quietest college arena you have covered a game in?